Nancy Eckerson: Morris is someone to admire

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Posted Nov. 10, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Posted Nov. 10, 2013 at 3:15 AM

An athlete who completes a first marathon with a finishing time just shy of qualifying for the Boston Marathon is an impressive competitor. For Tim Morris, who did that in October at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., these race results are only a small part of what makes him someone to admire.

Morris, formerly of Windham and now residing in Hudson, competed as a wheelchair athlete due to a 2007 car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. This life-long athlete has overcome challenges on his road to recovery much greater than 26.2 miles could impose.

Morris, 32, had just graduated from UNH with a master’s degree in Kinesiology-Pedagogy and was a personal trainer when the accident happened. His plans to teach physical education and continue his very active lifestyle came to a halt, but in his opinion, he was the perfect person to go through this. He said that although his life was completely flipped upside down and he had to work through the difficulties of piecing it back together, he stayed away from the negativity associated with what he lost and focused instead on recovery. With his education (which also includes becoming a certified strength and conditioning specialist in 2012) and his athletic background, he had the knowledge and tools needed to push through physical therapy. He never put limits on ultimately what he might accomplish.

After his injury, he spent three years at a rehab facility in Massachusetts but found he wasn’t making enough progress, and felt there were better and more forward-thinking ways to go about therapy and treatment. Armed with his knowledge and along with exercise physiologist and friend Erin Crossman, he created a customized rehab plan and began to see positive results. Looking to help others make similar improvements, the two started to work locally with clients. In 2012 he spent four months in Los Angeles at Next Step Fitness, a non-profit facility for people living with paralysis and other mobility impairments. There he saw the combination of better equipment, special types of gait training and very outside of the box thinking and had an idea for the same type of facility in New Hampshire. He is now in the early stages of forming Next Step Fitness New England, a facility that could address the approximately 500,000 to 600,000 individuals with neurological dysfunctions in the New England area.

Morris says he is blessed to be in his situation and knows personally what it takes to recover from this type of injury, or from a myriad of other conditions that can cause mobility impairments such as stroke or multiple sclerosis; recovery is really a full-time job. Finding the resources to pay for treatment is a challenge as well, but with hard work and determination, much can be accomplished. It is no surprise then, that Morris competed as part of a team in a Tough Mudder course at Gunstock Mt. in June 2013 as a fund-raising effort and to raise awareness. His team tackled the 10 plus miles of rugged terrain and obstacles together, including helping Morris scale the 30-foot half pipe by linking arms and allowing him to pull his way to the top.

The positive impact of the Tough Mudder led to an invitation to compete in the 13 mile Spartan Beast World Championships held in Vermont in September 2013; he competed as team captain of Team Next Step Fitness New England using an off-road wheelchair, a better approach he learned from facingthe difficulties of using a regular wheelchair during the Tough Mudder. A short five weeks later, he competed in the Marine Corps Marathon using a hand cycle. His training regime is familiar to any marathoner, and included training at 4:30 in the dark mornings while wearing a head lamp in order to get in all the required miles. He used the Marine Corps Marathon as an opportunity to fund-raise for Team Reeve, part of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation which is dedicated to improving quality of life and curing spinal cord injuries through innovative research. Wheelchair athletes start 15 minutes before the race start, and with the speed Morris was traveling, he found himself in the unusual position of hand cycling through the area of the National Mall, Smithsonian and monuments during one of the world’s largest marathons, alone. Like so many who complete marathons, Morris is already planning for his next race, potentially in Massachusetts in a couple weeks.

Morris said he was moved by the Marines working the course during the marathon, knowing their dedication and the sacrifices they face in their positions. Those who know Morris are likewise moved by his perseverance, determination and belief that anything is possible.

A crowdrise fundraising page for Next Step Fitness New England can be found here: http://www.crowdrise.com/nextstepnewengland

Running Notes: On Nov. 16, no watches allowed for the Feed the Need Predict Your Time 5K Turkey Trot in Stratham, to meet the needs of local school children facing 68 hours of hunger between school lunch on Fridays and school breakfast on Mondays.

Nancy Eckerson writes about running for Foster’s Sunday Citizen. You can reach her at nerunner1@comcast.net.